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hold among some very loudmouthed and rebellious barons. |
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The good humor that these plans generated in the king was markedly increased by the discomfiture of his "dear friends," Fulk and Henry. He not only enjoyed their rage when they saw the rich prizes they had counted their own disappear, but had the additional pleasure of laying the groundwork by which they themselves would permanently remove those promised prizes from their own grasp. |
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Both Fulk and Henry hated Ian for what he was. They hated him worse because, unlike many others who had treated them with contempt and disdain from the first, Ian had been reasonably friendly. He had been quite willing to overlook their unknown and possibly ignoble ancestry. After all, Simon had risen from nothing and was a fine man, whereas his own wellborn father had been nothing to boast about. Why should not these men also be worthy of friendship, whatever their birth? There was a gradual development of disgust toward them that Ian took no pains to hide, and this was more exacerbating to Fulk and Henry than the mingled fear and loathing with which John's other noble vassals had always regarded them. |
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It was not difficult for John to play on those feelings. Although vanity, spite, and greed often blinded the king and distorted his judgment so that he did foolish things, he was by no means a stupid man. When he had done with his henchmen, they were ripe for anythingbut John strictly forbade assassination. Whatever befell Ian, he warned his men, it must have the appearance of a legal death or an honorable challenge based on reasonable cause. If it did not, he threatened, it would be necessary for him, no matter how great his regret, to sacrifice those who were guilty of harming de Vipont in order to keep peace with his barons. Ian was known as a faithful vassal, and he had played a prominent part in the victories achieved in France. The king would not |
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